Microsoft launching Windows home server product at CES
We know there's been a bit of speculation this way or that as to whether Microsoft would launch a home (media) server version of Windows to accompany its alread home media serving-centric Media Center (and Vista Ultimate) Windows builds, but we can finally say with some certainty that they will. A trusted source confirmed with us what ZDNet is referring to as "Windows Home Server". We don't yet have a final working name (it's internally codenamed Q and Quattro, as we understand), exact launch details, or real ideas of how it's going to operate, we know it'll be announced by Microsoft at CES. Our gut tells us it's going to turn out like an end-user version of Windows Storage Server 2003, which is a slightly obscure embedded-devices / network storage Windows build intended specifically for headless network-accessible NAS and SAN devices. Then again, maybe they'll release the server OS for desktops of all shapes and sizes so we can all have something to do with our old junker PCs that might still be a little too good to take over duty as a m0n0wall box. Either way, as we said, we know it's coming, it'll be announced at CES, and we're a little stoked that maybe Microsoft will have something here that'll take some of the common annoyances out of home media and data serving.
